Pausanias, Description of Greece, ed. Friedrich Spiro, 9.19

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[1]
ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ λεωφόρῳ χωρίον ἐστὶ Τευμησσός· Εὐρώπην δὲ ὑπὸ Διὸς κρυφθῆναί φασιν ἐνταῦθα. ἕτερος δὲ ἐς ἀλώπεκα ἐπίκλησιν Τευμησσίαν λόγος ἐστίν, ὡς ἐκ μηνίματος Διονύσου τὸ θηρίον ἐπʼ ὀλέθρῳ τραφείη Θηβαίων, καὶ ὡς ὑπὸ τοῦ κυνός, ὃν Πρόκριδι τῇ Ἐρεχθέως ἔδωκεν Ἄρτεμις, ἁλίσκεσθαι μέλλουσα αὐτή τε λίθος ἐγένετο ἡ ἀλώπηξ καὶ ὁ κύων οὗτος. καὶ Ἀθηνᾶς ἐν Τευμησσῷ Τελχινίας ἐστὶν ἱερὸν ἄγαλμα οὐκ ἔχον· ἐς δὲ τὴν ἐπίκλησιν αὐτῆς ἔστιν εἰκάζειν ὡς τῶν ἐν Κύπρῳ ποτὲ οἰκησάντων Τελχίνων ἀφικομένη μοῖρα ἐς Βοιωτοὺς ἱερὸν ἱδρύσατο Ἀθηνᾶς Τελχινίας. 0

[2]
Τευμησσοῦ δὲ ἐν ἀριστερᾷ σταδίους προελθόντι ἑπτὰ Γλίσαντός ἐστιν ἐρείπια, πρὸ δὲ αὐτῶν ἐν δεξιᾷ τῆς ὁδοῦ χῶμα οὐ μέγα ὕλῃ τε ἀγρίᾳ σύσκιον καὶ ἡμέροις δένδροις. ἐτάφησαν δὲ αὐτόθι οἱ μετὰ Αἰγιαλέως ποιησάμενοι τοῦ Ἀδράστου τὴν ἐς Θήβας στρατείαν, ἄλλοι τε Ἀργείων τῶν ἐν τέλει καὶ Πρόμαχος ὁ Παρθενοπαίου· τῷ δὲ Αἰγιαλεῖ γενέσθαι τὸ μνῆμα ἐν Παγαῖς πρότερον ἔτι ἐν τῇ συγγραφῇ τῇ Μεγαρίδι ἐδήλωσα.

[3] κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἐς Γλίσαντα εὐθεῖαν ἐκ Θηβῶν λίθοις χωρίον περιεχόμενον λογάσιν Ὄφεως καλοῦσιν οἱ Θηβαῖοι κεφαλήν, τὸν ὄφιν τοῦτον—ὅστις δὴ ἦν—ἀνασχεῖν ἐνταῦθα ἐκ τοῦ φωλεοῦ λέγοντες τὴν κεφαλήν, Τειρεσίαν δὲ ἐπιτυχόντα ἀποκόψαι μαχαίρᾳ. τὸ μὲν δὴ χωρίον τοῦτο ἐπὶ λόγῳ καλεῖται τοιῷδε· ὑπὲρ δὲ Γλίσαντός ἐστιν ὄρος Ὕπατος καλούμενον, ἐπὶ δὲ αὐτῷ Διὸς Ὑπάτου ναὸς καὶ ἄγαλμα· τὸν δὲ ποταμὸν τὸν χείμαρρον Θερμώδοντα ὀνομάζουσιν. ἀναστρέψαντι δὲ ἐπί τε Τευμησσὸν καὶ ὁδὸν τὴν ἐς Χαλκίδα Χαλκώδοντος μνῆμά ἐστιν, ὃς ἀπέθανεν ὑπὸ Ἀμφιτρύωνος μάχης πρὸς Θηβαίους Εὐβοεῦσι γενομένης.

[4]
ἑξῆς δὲ πόλεων ἐρείπιά ἐστιν Ἅρματος καὶ Μυκαλησσοῦ· καὶ τῇ μὲν τὸ ὄνομα ἐγένετο ἀφανισθέντος, ὡς οἱ Ταναγραῖοί φασιν, ἐνταῦθα Ἀμφιαράῳ τοῦ ἅρματος καὶ οὐχ ὅπου λέγουσιν οἱ Θηβαῖοι· Μυκαλησσὸν δὲ ὁμολογοῦσιν ὀνομασθῆναι, διότι ἡ βοῦς ἐνταῦθα ἐμυκήσατο ἡ Κάδμον καὶ τὸν σὺν αὐτῷ στρατὸν ἄγουσα ἐς Θήβας. ὅντινα δὲ τρόπον ἐγένετο ἡ Μυκαλησσὸς ἀνάστατος, τὰ ἐς Ἀθηναίους ἔχοντα ἐδήλωσέ 0 μοι τοῦ λόγου.

[5] πρὸς θάλασσαν δὲ τῆς Μυκαλησσοῦ Δήμητρος Μυκαλησσίας ἐστὶν ἱερόν· κλείεσθαι δὲ αὐτὸ ἐπὶ νυκτὶ ἑκάστῃ καὶ αὖθις ἀνοίγεσθαί φασιν ὑπὸ Ἡρακλέους, τὸν δὲ Ἡρακλέα εἶναι τῶν Ἰδαίων καλουμένων Δακτύλων. δείκνυται δὲ αὐτόθι καὶ θαῦμα τοιόνδε· πρὸ τοῦ ἀγάλματος τῶν ποδῶν τιθέασιν ὅσα ἐν ὀπώρᾳ πέφυκε γίνεσθαι, ταῦτα δὲ διὰ παντὸς μένει τεθηλότα τοῦ ἔτους.

[6]
τοῦ δὲ Εὐρίπου τὴν Εὔβοιαν κατὰ τοῦτο ἀπὸ τῆς Βοιωτῶν διείργοντος τῆς τε Δήμητρος ἐν δεξιᾷ τὸ ἱερὸν τῆς Μυκαλησσίας καὶ ὀλίγον ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ προελθόντι ἐστὶν Αὐλίς· ὀνομασθῆναι δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς Ὠγύγου θυγατρός φασιν αὐτήν. ναὸς δὲ Ἀρτέμιδός ἐστιν ἐνταῦθα καὶ ἀγάλματα λίθου λευκοῦ, τὸ μὲν δᾷδας φέρον, τὸ δὲ ἔοικε τοξευούσῃ. φασὶ δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ βωμοῦ μελλόντων ἐκ μαντείας τῆς Κάλχαντος Ἰφιγένειαν τῶν Ἑλλήνων θύειν, τὴν θεὸν ἀντʼ αὐτῆς ἔλαφον τὸ ἱερεῖον ποιῆσαι.

[7] πλατάνου δέ, ἧς καὶ Ὅμηρος ἐν Ἰλιάδι ἐποιήσατο μνήμην, τὸ ἔτι τοῦ ξύλου περιὸν φυλάσσουσιν ἐν τῷ ναῷ. λέγεται δὲ ὡς ἐν Αὐλίδι πνεῦμα τοῖς Ἕλλησιν οὐκ ἐγίνετο ἐπίφορον, φανέντος δὲ ἐξαίφνης ἀνέμου σφίσιν οὐρίου θύειν τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι ὅ τι ἕκαστος εἶχε, θήλεά τε ἱερεῖα καὶ ἄρσενα ὁμοίως· καὶ ἀπʼ ἐκείνου διαμεμένηκεν ἐν Αὐλίδι πάντα τὰ ἱερεῖα εἶναι δόκιμα. δείκνυται δὲ καὶ ἡ πηγή, παρʼ ἣν ἡ πλάτανος ἐπεφύκει, καὶ ἐπὶ λόφου πλησίον τῆς Ἀγαμέμνονος σκηνῆς οὐδὸς χαλκοῦς·

[8] φοίνικες δὲ πρὸ τοῦ ἱεροῦ 0 πεφύκασιν, οὐκ ἐς ἅπαν ἐδώδιμον παρεχόμενοι καρπὸν ὥσπερ ἐν τῇ Παλαιστίνῃ, τοῦ δὲ ἐν Ἰωνίᾳ τῶν φοινίκων καρποῦ πεπανώτερον. ἄνθρωποι δὲ ἐν τῇ Αὐλίδι οἰκοῦσιν οὐ πολλοί, γῆς δέ εἰσιν οὗτοι κεραμεῖς· νέμονται δὲ Ταναγραῖοι ταύτην τε τὴν χώραν καὶ ὅση περὶ Μυκαλησσόν ἐστι καὶ Ἅρμα.

Description of Greece. Pausanias. ed. Friedrich Spiro. Leipzig. 1903.

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Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Ἑλλάδος Περιηγήσεως (Greek) (Pausanias. Pausaniae Graeciae descriptio, Volumes 1-3. Spiro, Friedrich, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1903.)

Translations (2)

Description of Greece Perseus (Pausanias. Pausanias Description of Greece, Volumes 1-4. Jones, W.H.S. (William Henry Samuel), translator; Ormerod, Henry Arderne, translator. London, New York: W. Heinemann, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1918-1935.) — 9.19 focus

[1]
On this highway is a place called Teumessus, where it is said that Europa was hidden by Zeus. There is also another legend, which tells of a fox called the Teumessian fox, how owing to the wrath of Dionysus the beast was reared to destroy the Thebans, and how, when about to be caught by the hound given by Artemis to Procris the daughter of Erechtheus, the fox was turned into a stone, as was likewise this hound. In Teumessus there is also a sanctuary of Telchinian Athena, which contains no image. As to her surname, we may hazard the conjecture that a division of the Telchinians who once dwelt in Cyprus came to Boeotia and established a sanctuary of Telchinian Athena.

[2]
Seven stades from Teumessus on the left are the ruins of Glisas , and before them on the right of the way a small mound shaded by cultivated trees and a wood of wild ones. Here were buried Promachus, the son of Parthenopaeus, and other Argive officers, who joined with Aegialeus, the son of Adrastus, in the expedition against Thebes . That the tomb of Aegialeus is at Pegae I have already stated in an earlier part of my history¹ that deals with Megara .

[3] On the straight road from Thebes to Glisas is a place surrounded by unhewn stones, called by the Thebans the Snake's Head. This snake, whatever it was, popped its head, they say, out of its hole here, and Teiresias, chancing to meet it, cut off the head with his sword. This then is how the place got its name. Above Glisas is a mountain called Supreme, and on it a temple and image of Supreme Zeus. The river, a torrent, they call the Thermodon. Returning to Teumessus and the road to Chalcis , you come to the tomb of Chalcodon, who was killed by Amphitryon in a fight between the Thebans and the Euboeans.

[4]
Adjoining are the ruins of the cities Harma (Chariot) and Mycalessus. The former got its name, according to the people of Tanagra , because the chariot of Amphiaraus disappeared here, and not where the Thebans say it did. Both peoples agree that Mycalessus was so named because the cow lowed (emykesato) here that was guiding Cadmus and his host to Thebes . How Mycalessus was laid waste I have related in that part of my history that deals with the Athenians.²

[5] On the way to the coast of Mycalessus is a sanctuary of Mycalessian Demeter. They say that each night it is shut up and opened again by Heracles, and that Heracles is one of what are called the Idaean Dactyls. Here is shown the following marvel. Before the feet of the image they place all the fruits of autumn, and these remain fresh throughout all the year.

[6]
At this place the Euripus separates Euboea from Boeotia . On the right is the sanctuary of Mycalessian Demeter, and a little farther on is Aulis , said to have been named after the daughter of Ogygus. Here there is a temple of Artemis with two images of white marble; one carries torches, and the other is like to one shooting an arrow. The story is that when, in obedience to the soothsaying of Calchas, the Greeks were about to sacrifice Iphigeneia on the altar, the goddess substituted a deer to be the victim instead of her. They preserve in the temple what still survives of the

[7] plane-tree mentioned by Homer in the Iliad.³ The story is that the Greeks were kept at Aulis by contrary winds, and when suddenly a favouring breeze sprang up, each sacrificed to Artemis the victim he had to hand, female and male alike. From that time the rule has held good at Aulis that oil victims are permissible. There is also shown the spring, by which the plane-tree grew, and on a hill near by the bronze threshold of Agamemnon's tent.

[8] In front of the sanctuary grow palm-trees, the fruit of which, though not wholly edible like the dates of Palestine , yet are riper than those of Ionia . There are but few inhabitants of Aulis , and these are potters. This land, and that about Mycalessus and Harma , is tilled by the people of Tanagra .

English (Jones and Ormerod; retranslated Gregory Nagy, CHS, 2018) (OCR draft) Experimental (CHS Pausanias Reader retranslation by Gregory Nagy, based on Jones and Ormerod, with marked Greek terms, notes, quotations, and bibliographic attributions preserved.) — 9.19 focus

[1] On this highway is a place called Teumessus, where it is said that Europa was hidden by Zeus. There is also another tale [ logos], which tells of a fox called the Teumessian fox, how owing to the wrath of Dionysus the beast was reared to destroy the Thebans, and how, when about to be caught by the hound given by Artemis to Procris the daughter of Erekhtheus, the fox was turned into a stone, as was likewise this hound. In Teumessus there is also a sanctuary of Telchinian Athena, which contains no image. As to her surname, we may hazard the conjecture that a division of the Telchinians who once dwelled in Cyprus came to Boeotia and established a sanctuary of Telchinian Athena.

[2] Seven stadium-lengths from Teumessus on the left are the ruins of Glisas, and before them on the right of the way a small mound shaded by cultivated trees and a wood of wild ones. Here were buried Promakhos, the son of Parthenopaios, and other Argive officers, who joined with Aigialeus, the son of Adrastos, in the expedition against Thebes. That the tomb of Aigialeus is at Pegai I have already stated in an earlier part of my inquiry [ historia] that deals with Megara.

[3] On the straight road from Thebes to Glisas is a place surrounded by unhewn stones, called by the Thebans the Snake’s Head. This snake, whatever it was, popped its head, they say, out of its hole here, and Teiresias, chancing to meet it, cut off the head with his sword. This then is how the place got its name. Above Glisas is a mountain called Supreme, and on it a temple and image of Supreme Zeus. The river, a torrent, they call the Thermodon. Returning to Teumessus and the road to Chalcis, you come to the tomb of Chalcodon, who was killed by Amphitryon in a fight between the Thebans and the Euboeans.

[4] Adjoining are the ruins of the cities Harma (Chariot) and Mykalessos. The former got its name, according to the people of Tanagra, because the chariot of Amphiaraos disappeared here, and not where the Thebans say it did. Both peoples agree that Mykalessos was so named because the cow lowed ( emykesato) here that was guiding Kadmos and his host to Thebes. How Mykalessos was laid waste I have related in that part of my history that deals with the Athenians.

[5] On the way to the coast of Mykalessos is a sanctuary of Mycalessian Demeter. They say that each night it is shut up and opened again by Hēraklēs, and that Hēraklēs is one of what are called the Idaean Dactyls. Here is shown the following marvel. Before the feet of the image they place all the fruits of autumn, and these remain fresh throughout all the year.

[6] At this place the Euripus separates Euboea from Boeotia. On the right is the sanctuary of Mycalessian Demeter, and a little farther on is Aulis, said to have been named after the daughter of Ogygus. Here there is a temple of Artemis with two images of white marble; one carries torches, and the other is like to one shooting an arrow. The story is that when, in obedience to the soothsaying of Calchas, the Greeks were about to sacrifice Iphigeneia on the altar, the goddess substituted a deer to be the victim instead of her. They preserve in the temple what still survives of the

[7] plane tree mentioned by Homer in the Iliad. The story is that the Greeks were kept at Aulis by contrary winds, and when suddenly a favoring breeze sprang up, each sacrificed to Artemis the victim he had to hand, female and male alike. From that time the rule has held good at Aulis that oil victims are permissible. There is also shown the spring, by which the plane tree grew, and on a hill near by the bronze threshold of Agamemnon’s tent.

[8] In front of the sanctuary grow palm trees, the fruit of which, though not wholly edible like the dates of Palestine, yet are riper than those of Ionia. There are but few inhabitants of Aulis, and these are potters. This land, and that about Mykalessos and Harma, is tilled by the people of Tanagra.

New Alexandria Commentaries

Gregory Nagy, Editors: Angelia Hanhardt and Keith DeStone, Web producer: Noel Spencer, Consultant for images: Jill Curry Robbins, \[\[Noel gives this a separate URN\]\]

Pausanias Description of Greece 9.19

ed. Friedrich Spiro

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